Out This Week 11/21

I don’t know what you’re thankful for this week, but I’m sure happy about all of the free music that bands, labels and promoters have provided over the past year to help us all discover some new favorites. Cerebral Ballzy, Lord Huron, The Barr Brothers, Grave Babies, Churches -- these are a few bands that I might not have otherwise known had it not been for their generosity in putting their music out there. After all, there are only so many hours in the day to dig through record store bins, scour the internet and even listen to the radio! In the Out This Week posts, we try to gather some that new music for you so that hopefully you might find some new favorites of your own.

And this week’s list of new releases has some strong contenders for your affection. James Jackson Toth, a.k.a. WAND or Wooden Wand, has to be one of the most tireless and prolific songwriters alive with over 100 releases and countless collaborations, and his most recent project, Wooden Wand & the Briarwood Virgins, recorded with his friend Duquette Johnston’s band the Gum Creek Killers, creates “a raw, gritty sound steeped in The Band, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Southern rock, gospel and soul, combining stately rhythms with some righteous guitar solos.” [Note: we're also thankful for the the insightful words of our Music Director, Don Yates.] Melbourne, Australian proto-punk lovers Eddy Current Suppression Ring tear up their fourth album (third on Goner Records) into shreds of garage-y noise that recalls at times Wire, The Fall, The Sex Pistols, early British rockers like The Troggs, and many others, while Oxnard, California’s Sea Lions debut with “a promising album of urgent, lo-fi indie-pop with jangly, surf-influenced guitars, peppy tambourine, energetic rhythms, beach-pop harmonies, nostalgic melodies and Adrian Pillado’s half-buried monotone croon that’s reminiscent of Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson.” And NYC’s High Highs (two-thirds of the band also hails from Australia) create ascending and serene atmospheric folk-pop on a debut EP.

More recognizable names on this week’s list of new releases include Kate Bush, the idiosyncratic British songwriter, whose “Hounds of Love” has been the go-to cover song for today’s indie rockers. Her tenth album(!), 50 Words for Snow, is actually her second release this year, but it’s actually her first album of new songs since 2005′s Aerial. A six year delay, though, is nothing, considering venerable post-punks Magazine have returned with No Thyself, their first album in 30 years! And the American Southwest represents with an anniversary edition of Giant Sand‘s Chore of Enchantment, a collection of tour EPs from Calexico, and a live album of covers by Rhett Miller.

You’ll also find remix collections from Trentemøller, The Antlers, and Death Cab for Cutie; a new EP from local musician Kris Orlowski; and a Doomtree roster packed full-length featuring Dessa, P.O.S, Sims and others, and much more. Check out Largehearted Boy’s list for a full lineup and sample these tracks now: